“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was second grade.”

I think that’s how that quote goes…

Second grade was the year Jen and I (along with most of the little girls in our class) were in love with the same boy in our homeroom.

Lee. ?

In the spring, I fainted in the middle of art class, and my face conveniently landed on the edge of Lee’s chair, splitting my lip open. There was blood. IT WAS EVERYWHERE. To everyone else, it was grossly fascinating, but to me, it was destiny… Clearly, Lee and I were gonna get married and raise 12 calico cats.

Second grade was also the year hot pink and gold glitter ruled, and everything pink and glittery gold was a hot commodity on the playground — stickers, beaded hair accessories, pens, friendship bracelets and those weird braided plastic keychains that everyone had — and shortly after the fainting incident, Lee shyly handed me a pink and gold glitter cat sticker.

We never spoke of it.

The pink and gold packaging in the brings back all the feels, and second grade Karen… Shoot, she would’ve traded her pesky little brother for the palettes and the mascara in a hot second (“Here, take him. Just feed him hot dogs, rice and ketchup every day, and he’ll be fine”). Sure, I wouldn’t know what to do with anything, but who cares? PINK AND GOLD GLITTER.

Mally Roncal is the cutest.

The best thing from this launch for me is the Smoky Mama Mascara, and I’m hoping that Mally will find a way to add it to the permanent line (oh please, oh please, oh please) because it’s THAT great.

As for the three other pieces, I think they have their moments…

($29)

Sad panda tear for the broken pan of glitter. 🙁

The Mallywood Eyeshadow Palette is a pretty affordable $29, and the shadows blends like buttah, especially the golden matte brown shade, Iconic, which is like MAC Soba but even smoother and 1,000% softer, if you can imagine that. The shimmers are low-key frosty (sometimes a little too shiny for this gal, so I like to buff them out into a sheen), and the glitter, as you can see from the pic, arrived broken.

The big beige shimmer broke shortly after, too.

❤️❤️❤️ 3 out of 5 hearts.

($32)

Hello, highlights!

Wazza Wassup Ombre Highlighting Trio’s high-shine highlighters (one cream, two powders) could blind you if you saw them shaking their @ss in a music video, which leads me to this side note/fun fact: Did you know that Mally Roncal did the makeup for J. Lo’s Get Right video (a.k.a. my favorite J. Lo vid of all time)? SERIOUSLY, WHEN I FOUND THIS OUT I DIED A LITTLE. The makeup looks in that video — and there are many — are #goals.

Anyway, these highlighters aren’t playin’. Mally loves some bling!

❤️❤️❤️ 3 out of 5 hearts.

($28)

Totally looks like ice cream to me

The Highlighting Blush is a cool-toned light pink with slightly purple dreams and a subtle beige sheen, and even though it’s not my color at all (I look weird and tired in it), I like the smoothness and how all the colors in the pan blend together seamlessly.

That was such a cute story. I hope Lee reads it and fondly remembers giving you the sticker. 🙂 Goodness, much too much glitter and bling for me but you made me laugh with “weird and tired looking”. Just so you know, you’re neither of these in the pic. HAHA! It does look a bit light, which is making your cheekbones seem a little puffy. I’m not sure I’d have noticed if you hadn’t pointed it out, though.

Thanks for asking. Yes, things are settling down. We’re doing OK. We have to figure out when all us siblings can get together to release her ashes. My and hubby’s 27th wedding anniversary is on the 31st, so we’re planning a trip to British Columbia for a week.